Farm to superfood: HANAH’s mission to change how we think about health

A few years ago I had a mountain biking accident that resulted in major injuries.

After a week in the hospital, I realized that Western medicine, while amazing, had a few drawbacks. The doctors were able to put me back together, but with the lingering effects of a massive concussion and a three-month healing process ahead of me, I was left to deal with my injury alone. No plan, no dietary guidelines – nothing. And something did not feel right about that.

A series of serendipitous events brought me to an Ayurvedic doctor from Kerala, India, who put me on a plan of healthy food, teas, tonics, and a mixture of seven herbs. The combination of Eastern and Western medicines brought me back to life and made me even stronger than before.

As someone who has always made health and fitness a priority, I found comfort in this healing process. The steps I needed to regain my health were clear: I knew exactly what my diet and supplements were going to be and where they came from.

But the supplement industry often confuses and intimidates the average consumer. Before my accident, I was often overwhelmed whenever I visited a herbal shop or a supplement retailer, and there was no real way to navigate this confusion. I knew that I was not alone in this.

On top of that, a pressing question came to mind: we are so focused on where our food is sourced, but why don’t we care about where our herbs and vitamins come from? This seemed like a daunting and dangerous rabbit hole – albeit one worth pursuing – so I decided to dig deeper.

Sure enough, I was on to something. Recent research, as shown in this New York Times article, indicates that 80% of all supplements do not contain what they claim on the packaging. Even more disturbing is the fact that some supplements contain elements which are actually harmful. Through the science of DNA barcoding we now know that contamination and substitution in the supplement market is widespread.

We are so focused on where our food is sourced, but why don’t we care about where our herbs and vitamins come from?

In a culture where we are so focused on where our meat, dairy, and wine come from, why do we blindly take pills that give us no tangible benefit? Are players in the supplement industry just hoping the consumer accepts a placebo effect? That’s not how any industry should treat its customers.

I brought these questions up with my Ayurvedic doctor, and he told me I was spot on. He explained that the increasing popularity of Indian herbs has caused a shift from rural farming to monoculture farming, which was very disturbing. Why is that?

As Dr. Venugopal puts it:

“Herbs extract vitamins and minerals from the soil, which makes these small wonders so powerful. One must be aware that the soil needs constant, natural fertilization in order to maintain the efficacy of the herbs. If we plant herbs in a field where they do not normally grow and then harvest them over and over, the herbs will lose all of their potency.”  

In my travels around India for the last several years, this is exactly what I have been seeing – cheaper herbs with little-to-zero efficacy that are putting the local farmers out of business. 

I decided it was time for a change. 

Dr. Venugopal and I started working together to create a unique herbal mixture that only used the highest quality ingredients and manufacturing. My aim was to develop a product that gave me all of the healing benefits I experienced while under his care – improved immunity, endurance, mental focus, and recall – and to know exactly where the herbs came from and for them to be in their most bioavailable/absorbable form. I wanted to offer the purest and most effective ingredients on the market in a product that actually works so people feel the difference.  

So what happened next?

Over the course of a few years, Dr. Venugopal and I proceeded to test several formulas until we tapped into a 5,000-year-old recipe that contained roughly 30 wild-harvested herbs mixed into a base of wild honey, Ayurvedic ghee, and sesame oil. We found that this mixture led to optimal absorption by the body, and the results were profound!

The first changes I noticed were huge boosts to both my ability to focus as well as my memory recall, followed by a vast improvement to my immune system – I stopped getting sick. I also noticed I stopped taking my mid-afternoon nap, which had snuck into my daily routine over the years.

Then another interesting thing happened – as I was snowboarding and cycling quite heavily, I started to use this herbal formula both before and during strenuous exercise. It actually made sense from a sports nutrition standpoint, because honey, ghee, and sesame oil each act as a balanced and highly-effective food and energy source. Mixing the three of them together and adding in 30 potent herbs amplified the effects of these foods even more.

HANAH's mission is to provide consumers with an all-natural and effective product that promotes rich health, vitality, longevity, and well-being.

But we wanted to know that it wasn’t just us, so we began seeding the product out to everyone – our friends, our mothers, our trainers and many professional athletes. And the results? Everyone had their own powerful experience with the product and couldn’t get enough of it. It was at this point that we decided this was something we needed to share with the world.

After years of testing and refining, I believe we have created a truly powerful antidote to the modern stressors of everyday life with HANAH ONE.
 

DISCLAIMER

Statements throughout this publication have not been evaluated by the FDA. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease process.